Being Persuaded Not To Go Against The Grain

Today my brother persuaded me that we should make the relatively short trip over to the Isle of Grain, which we we haven't visited for many years.
Although it is was once an island it is now the easternmost point of the Hoo Peninsula in the Medway district in Kent overlooking the confluence of its bounding rivers, the Medway and the Thames. Its landscape encompases vast swathes of marshland, a major habitat for a diverse selection of wetland birds, farmland and substantial 20th Century industrial development including a visually dominant power station and a container port.
The historic settlement of Grain has undergone a huge degree of change across the last few centuries which has reshaped its character almost entirely - where the Yanlet Creek, once a navigable tidal channel, which separated the low-lying and isolated island from the Hoo Peninsula had silted up by the Middle Ages, to reclamation of marshland for farming and a military presence (a succession of military structures were built including a tower, fort and batteries - which you can still see the remnants of) from the mid 19th Century until the very start of the 20th Century and from the late 1920's onwards to industrial development.
When we arrived we passed through the tiny village of Grain itself and then on to the Coastal Park where we parked the car and then took a walk out towards the substantial sea defences and the esplanade. You really can see all that history I mentioned above when you encounter this extraordinary landscape. One quote I found online described it in the following way : '..to walk along in the shadow of the Grain Power Station is to preview the end of the world. Behind the sea-wall lies a splendidly bleak expanse of marsh, littered with the relics of industry and war...less an imperial landscape than a redundant and forgotten one, Grain speaks of abandonment on a grand scale'. I think that is a very harsh appraisal of such a unique place and whilst you do encounter some of those aspects I found it to have an austere beauty all of its own even on a cold and overcast day, which if anything added to the atmospheric vista even more - which I have tried to capture in my first extra.
On our walk along the seafront we encountered very few other people - which I suppose was to be expected on a cold day in the middle of the week in February - and at times it almost felt like we had this expanse of coastline to ourselves. After we had walked about a mile we decided to turn back and I had just taken some steps down towards the shoreline to try and get another image when a little terrier appeared on the sea-wall above me and started barking loudly. I tried to capture an image of it but my camera was on completely the wrong setting and its owner then arrived apologising profusely. I said there was no need to apologise and I did manage to capture a shot of them and their other canine companion - which you can see in my main image - before they disappeared over the horizon just as a glimpse of sun appeared.
On the way back home we stopped off at the village of High Halstow from some liquid refreshment at The Red Lion. It was surprisingly busy for a mid week lunchtime and we didn't exactly receive the warmest of welcomes from the barmaid but as the sun had come out we were happy to take out pints outside sitting at a table in our coats and scarves.
Another thoroughly enjoyable micro trip and I was happy that I'd been persuaded not to go against the Grain! :-)